In Need of Gift Ideas? Ask for Something You Would Feel Guilty Purchasing For Yourself

This morning I woke up and realized that the comforter my husband and I share is literally falling apart. A few weeks ago I noticed a very small hole in the corner of the blanket. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I could have sewed in a patch, but we were leaving for vacation and the idea of fixing it simply slipped my mind.

The day after we returned I entered my bedroom and found tiny tufts of cotton all over the floor. It seems my cat found that small hole and decided to stick his paws inside of it. I’m sure his claws caught hold of that material and he pulled and pulled on it until the stuffing popped out.

Unfortunately, once he realized how much fun it was to rip out that cottony goodness he decided to poke additional holes into the bedspread. What started as one tiny hole that I should’ve patched, became four or five significant tears. It’s so bad that when we sleep at night I sometimes stick my foot right through the outer lining and into the blanket itself.

A few weeks ago my husband asked me to purchase a new blanket for our bed at the beach. (It’s funny because he asked for this before I came home and found our tattered blanket.) After sleeping in the queen sized Tommy Hilfiger comforter set I purchased from Ross he begged me to buy a king sized one for us to use. I told him that those comforter sets often cost over $150 and that I haven’t seen any similar ones on sale. I only spent $25 on the one I purchased.

If you’ve read this blog for any amount of time you know that my husband and I don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to money. While I’ll shop at Ross, Marshalls and TJ Maxx in an effort to buy quality products at cheaper prices I am not willing to shell out $150 for a new comforter. No matter how soft that comforter might be. My husband on the other hand, looked at me and said, “I don’t care about the money. Just buy it.”

Knowing full well that I don’t want to spend that much money on a blanket I put off his request. I figured he’d forget about it or he’d finally remember and buy it himself after realizing I wouldn’t spend the money to do it.

Lucky for me a long time reader commented on a post I wrote this weekend and gave me a way out of this conundrum. She pointed out that wish lists should include gifts you might feel guilty about buying yourself.

Let’s say you really want a waffle maker or a food processor but don’t want to shell out the money for something you’ll only use a few times a year. If you are like me, (or my wonderful commenter), you might feel guilty for buying yourself something that sits on a shelf for extended periods of time.

The solution: rather than feeling guilty add that item to your wish list. That old blanket problem, now resolved with a link to a luxurious blanket that I never would’ve purchased for myself. I also added a juicer I’ve been dreaming about.

I keep an amazon wishlist – as in a relaly ‘wish’ list – not I will be buying anytime soon… sometimes it s frivolous item, sometimes it’s a useful purchanse but I’m not ready for it right now, will come back to it later… etc that really helps!

I’d suggest you buy a king comforter of your choice because if your husband ends up buying one, it might not necessarily be to your liking. 😉 If I’m really picky about something (say, color, material or brand or type), then I buy it for myself sooner or later… if I’m not and just want to try somethign, then that definitely goes on the wishlist that I can share.

I do splurge once in a while on things that matter to me and I feel that it’s okay! The whole thing about saving money is to spend it wisely where it matters. I spend 1/4 of my life on the bed (that’s 8 hrs a day!), might as well get stuff that I enjoy!